The Natural Laws of Good Luck by Ellen Graf Book Signing September 15, 2009

How far would you travel to find love? Ellen Graf is about to find out. In her quirky, charming memoir The Natural Laws of Good Luck: A Memoir of an Unlikely Marriage (Trumpeter, 2009) two single people—an American woman and a Chinese man—find a bond that transcends cultural differences. But will it also survive the challenges of modern marriage?

Ellen is forty-six, divorced, and sick of personal ads. Her friend Da Jie tells Ellen about her brother, Lu Zhong-hua in China. He’s lonely, too, she says. Maybe they would like each other. They should at least meet and find out.

When Ellen arrives in China and Zhong-hua is waiting for her at the airport carrying roses, she discovers a strange and separate language of love. Their first evening together, they politely struggle to communicate using a big red English-Chinese dictionary. It is only when Zhong-hua suddenly grabs her knee that Ellen experiences the force of his feelings for her. After spending a few weeks together in China, they decide to get married.

From this surprising beginning a funny and original love story is born. As soon as Zhong-hua arrives in upstate New York to live with Ellen and her teenage daughter in their ramshackle farmhouse, life as Ellen knows it shifts dramatically. The first thing Zhong-hua does is change out of his pants, after which, wearing only some quilted long underwear, he cooks his wife a piece of salmon. Ellen finds herself following a whole new set of rules with her new husband. He pushes Ellen aside without saying excuse me (“Family no need these kind of words”), cooks her giant sea slugs and sheep’s stomach, doesn’t call when he’s going to be late (“I think no need. In China no need call”), and offers her no random smiles or pats on the shoulder. But in bed at night he holds her tightly like she’s “something long lost and precious that might not live until morning.”
Nothing comes easy for the newlyweds as they struggle to find adequate employment for Zhong-hua, keep their $500 car running, and co-parent Zhong-hua’s insolent daughter called “Sweet Sweet” who comes from China to live with them. But it’s an unexpected crisis that truly puts their marriage to the test. The Natural Laws of Good Luck is a rollicking tale of taking risks, culture clash, and the journey to real love.

Ellen Graf is a writer and sculptor. A Ludwig Vogelstein Grant winner, she holds an MFA in creative writing from Bennington College. This is her first book.